Outside of the sphere, others would have to wait in wonder, Kei's reiatsu displacing orb made it difficult to determine what was going on except that both were alive and that she'd taken damage. Kei's reiatsu would flare briefly, some kido was being prepared, they wouldn't know that it was happening while she made her final threat though she would sense it from inside. The rope would begin to tighten on the bankai, pulling in reiatsu to feed Kei from the very makeup. If it were struck from outside, Kei's bankai would likely be easier to break, but this only enhanced the inner strength, he was delegating power to prevent even Captain-class attacks from breaking his jail-like hold. She would not be allowed to escape justice.

"A rogues words are nothing to a Captain", Kei said, lifting his left hand to reveal his palm, a small glow forming as he began whispering an incantation, though the echoing effects of his bankai masked what was being said. The glow was small, an orb that looked like it could be some form of kido, though he held it as he suddenly dashed forward, raising his sword behind him and shifting toward her from every angle. This time it looked as if he planned to run her through, there was no doubt he wasn't hesitating for a lethal blow if need be. She'd lost control and refused orders of a Captain, whatever fault she perceived was not shared by Kei. His reiatsu spiked again, this time centered around his hands, this was definitely going to be an all or nothing attack, if she didn't plan to defend, she might find herself skewered entirely, and based on his earlier strikes to the mask, it was definitely possible he'd be aiming for the face.

As Kei moved, flashes of light would begin coming from all sides, blindingly bright, sparks shattering around, Kei was clashing the tip of his sword against itself through the reflections of the mirror, which displaced the reiatsu once more, making it feel wider than it was earlier. Kei knew that mapping his bankai was impossible, even a single step would make someone lost, there were no directions to map. This was the danger of his bankai, it immobilized people who focused on range and allowed Kei to strike from difficult to defend directions, putting people in a sense of emptiness. Even if she tilted her head to look or by reflex, she'd feel like she was falling, gravity itself would shift making down a new direction. No matter how hard one mapped the walls, unless they stood completely still there was no way to know where one was within the horrible mirror, but it was clear, she'd need to act now or be impaled on Kei's sword.

For a brief second, Sabre looked as if she was going to attack with her sword, but, suddenly, Sabiruchi's reiatsu disappeared. Her suit of armor and sword hadn't moved, but all sense of Sabiruchi was gone. It wasn't as if she was masking her spiritual pressure, either; it was as if she had ceased to exist.

The reality was that she had merged herself into the suit of armor she wore, literally becoming the armor. The process was instantaneous due to the armor completely encasing her, and the armor did not move either, remaining still. If Kei was a sighted man, or could use echolocation like a bat, he'd still "see" her armor, but the armor gave off no spiritual energy now. This was the power of her Knight; the ability to merge with any form of technology, and a power known only to the Captain Commander, who helped Sabre practice her Bankai after the incident so long ago.

Within the armor, Sabre awaited the killing blow. She hoped the Captain didn't hesitate, and finally plunged the sword straight into her helmet. That's all she was waiting for, that single strike. She hoped his momentum would be too much to stop his attack.

Kei could sense the armor, but with no life in it he froze. Rather, he couldn't sense the armor, but he could sense the reiatsu around it. He could feel the lack of pressure in that specific place. Kei shifted through his own reflection, the momentum pushing him away rather than toward, had she turtled herself somehow? She was still within his bankai, he could easily determine that by the armor's presence and how it reacted to being in his bankai. If she weren't there to feed it energy, it would be crushed under the weight of gravity pushing it in all directions. What a strange thing to do after making a threat. She hadn't fallen for his attack, but instead somehow hid under or in her armor? Kei stood motionless though, waiting. He didn't really know how to react to such a strange maneuver, but it seemed far too defensive to head-on strike. Clenching his fist he sheathed his blade, and rose his other hand, while still holding the one kido in his left, he rose his right hand, it was time to test the water.

"Hadou number four, byakurai", While Kei was by no means an expert with hadou, this simple one was capable by most shinigami, and back with a Captain's reiatsu, would be quite rough even if his skills were not the best. He pointed at the armor, firing lightning at it. If she had sight, she would become blinded as the light would appear to come from all directions, and within a moment the bolt would collide if the armor stood motionless. Knowing that armor and metal carried the charge of lightning very well, this would be an attempt to cook her right out of the armor, or at least cause it to begin spinning so rapidly that when she finally did emerge she'd be so dazed from the extra movement that she'd be left defenseless. Why risk running in head first to a motionless target when one had the ability to strike at a distance?

Mentally, Sabre cursed that he stopped the sword strike. Then, he electrocuted her armor! Sure, being a sentient piece of metal meant she no longer had nerves to feel pain, but being sent spinning and falling apart, the armor pieces drifting away from each other made her feel very disjointed. She wasn't simply inside her suit of armor, she was physically in the armor itself. She had became the suit, and she could feel her arm floating away from her shoulder, which was now somewhere by her left foot. She was so dizzy she had no clue where her head, inside the helmet, was.

The floating pieces of armor, skittering around disjointedly, spoke. Her voice didn't come from any one piece, but rather from all of them at once. "I thought you were going to kill me, Captain, or bring me to justice. What are you waiting for?" Her words were cocky, but she was starting to get motion sickness from the helmet spinning so much without any solid ground to cause friction against. She hoped to use his tactic of sounding like he was everywhere against him; she feared it didn't have that effect.

Kei seemed rather, uncomfortable by the sight, he still wasn't sure what kind of bankai she had, but this test was very intriguing. First it proved she wasn't hiding behind the armor, rather inside of it, but rather being it as it was able to communicate from all directions. That meant she probably didn't feel pain of any kind, but while that was true Kei only could speculate that. His voice came, though less cold than before, now more speaking like he did before, "I mean... can armor die?" The words were telling, he wasn't fighting anymore, now he was studying, he was taking time to learn before acting. This was very indicative of Kei, he didn't do things rashly. Instead he was more of an astute type, to the point that it was actually one of his weaknesses in a sense. He'd spend more time figuring out the best way to do things than most, because he needed to know it was absolutely without question the best way. His words spoke volumes, why fight her? He didn't know if she could even be hurt right now.

Kei released the spell in his left hand, letting it dissipate back into himself. He needed the focus back for his next test, "Bakudo number nine, horin", with those words a yellow tendril sprang forth from his hands. This was usually used in place of handcuffs against lower level enemies, but Kei had an amusing if not brilliant idea. If the armor continued it's idle drifting in random directions, he'd connect with the chest piece, pulling it aside to tie up all the pieces in a disjointed blob of armor bits. Despite the reaction he would ask, "You have hearing and speech in that form, so I presume you can also see, I apologize if I blinded you briefly with my byakurai. In truth I had no intention of killing you, I had a means of capturing you ready as a counter attack, but you instead defended. That was kind of a weird hiccup in my plan." His words were genuine, and his method of non-violence had returned, was he actually planning on tying her up in a big ball of kido yarn? While he was not great at hado, his bakudo was quite skilled, though not on par with anyone from the kido corps by far, he could definitely use it to hold down a wounded Captain until they were properly restrained by his elite squad. Was... Kei actually making the arrest so casually?

Sabiruchi felt her armor being pulled together, and was slightly relieved. The multiple pieces of armor casually said, "I'm not coming out of this unless you shut off your Bankai. And I rather appreciate not being stabbed; I'd hate to have broken your Zanpakuto. A Captain without a Bankai would be a poor thing for sure." Her voice showed no hatred, and was absolutely firm. Though she didn't saw how, she was certain she could have robbed him of Bankai forever.

The armor twitched a little, and with no small effort, the left gauntlet groped around as best it could until it was touching the long sword. While Kei wouldn't know it, Sabre was slowly pulling herself together, shifting herself through the different pieces until she felt as if her body was close enough in the right positions to where, had she her own body, she'd be curled in a ball.

"And just so you know, Captain Kusanagi, I am still very much blind. My Mask robs me of my vision. Right now, my eyes see as much as yours do."

Kei laughed a bit as she claimed she could see like him, that was flattering in a way but the difference of blind and blindfolded was vast. "Your eyes will never see like mine as long as you have memories of vision, but I can understand the comparison." She could see darkness behind her mask, even that was a mystery to Kei, he didn't understand the difference of darkness and light, these were concepts outside of his grasp. Any chips to her armor would reveal light, this too was confusing to Kei, to him vision was an anomaly, a theory that could not be described proper. While it was true that she had the same access to information he had from sight, what she didn't realize was that Kei could see in a sense. While people with sight relied on that sight for visual, Kei developed the ability to hear and feel, and sense his way into sight. He could see the armor perfectly fine, every piece of it, but he had no idea what it looked like. And as the hand would reach for the sword, he would give a tug to turn the the whole thing very quickly, spinning it up in the extremely adhesive kido more.

"I do plan to remove this once I have you tied up enough for the waiting unit outside to make it's arrest. They've been supplied with visual information I can't give them, so they know the truth of the situation more than you or I do. As I've been saying, you're arrest is final, the verdict isn't mine to make however, that's the fail-safe if I have lost my mind. What I don't understand is your aggression to such a system. If you truly think you've done nothing wrong, don't you think the Commander would override any faulty verdict? After all, she has done that once before when I proposed arresting you." Whether or not Kei was losing his mind became very irrelevant in his explanation. He was right about one thing, if she did just accept his arrest, she'd be out of the fight, and they would review the evidence and place judgment. If that judgment was based on their preconceived prejudice (assuming they had one), then the Commander would likely step in due to wanting Sabre around. At worse Sabre would be found guilty of threatening Kei, something that even if he perused would be no more than a public slap on the wrist, and with the way he explained it so calmly, it didn't even sound like he'd press for a punishment on his own account.

"I perceived you as being reasonable, but it seems you lost your perception of the system. Does it not exist that no matter how much authority I have in making the arrest, that is the extent of my authority. Once the arrest is made, it isn't even the sixth division that handles making the judgement, it falls on the Central 46 and the Commander. If I'm the crazy one, that's fine, let me appease my insanity then walk away free as a result. If you're the one that's lost her way and control, then get the help you need now rather than when you've been mortally wounded." After all this, it became apparent why Kei ended up in the sixth division. Even in the heat of an absolute war, Kei had the mental resolve to reason with the enemy. It was no wonder Kei was picked for the division he ended up with, at the first chance of peaceful communication he resolved to non-violence, to a calm resolution where no one would be hurt, and whoever needed help would get it, even if that meant himself. If he truly were the crazy one of the two, at least he had the mental faculties to keep to his division's codes in arresting a shinigami.

Sabiruchi waited for the rest of her armorbody to be collected. "The problem is not the arrest, but your mental health. Should you have lost your mind, or been hallucinating, while I'm tied up trying to get out of my own arrest, you'd be off out of sight. A member of the Gotei needs to keep the problem in sight at all times. And if you were unfit, you'd need medical attention." The way she said this pointed out that she didn't care about her own arrest at all, but rather the arrest-er. Sabre knew that no matter what, an arrest would be trivial for her; after all, what could they do, execute her? She was already awaiting execution!

There was a nagging sensation, though, as if something was missing, something crucial. Something that could change the whole course of events, if only she could think of it.

With a sudden laugh, Kei said, "There are two bankais fighting, how many people do you think are waiting outside? My squad is definitely there, the onmitsukido is probably there, I wouldn't be surprised if the kido corps was there." Kei made another valid point, if he was the one that needed to be watched, no problem, the fact that both of them released bankai meant all eyes were on them at the moment. They would immediately be there to arrest Kei for inability to properly perform his duty, and far outnumber either one of them. Once she was almost completely surrounded by the bakudo, enough soon to hold down any Captain class long enough for an arrest, it would only take a bit longer before Kei was satisfied. "Besides that, I plan on personally handing you over to the onmitsukido, my team is only here to make sure you're properly restrained to our agreements with the onmitsukido. What they do with you is between the 2nd division Captain and the Commander, fact is though you can't deny we won't be alone when you submit to the arrest at this point."

No matter what her stance was, she couldn't possibly think they'd be alone, Kei wasn't speaking with the information as if he had to tell her, more like he was reminding her how many people of interest would be present to step in when bankai was activated unannounced. This wasn't common, and in fact was intentional, Sabre claimed Kei was losing his mind, then threatened to use bankai against him. Fine, so be it, but if he used his first he knew he could contain both of them in a place that could be quartered off for either one of them to be arrested quite easily. At this point, Kei's initial plan to keep her in reach of others was already successful, with the added benefit that her most worrying consideration, Kei being without his faculties, was also resolved. No matter what happened, the truly unhinged would find the help they needed, all Kei had to do was end his bankai and the guilty party would be restrained by too many people for either of them to defend against, especially after such a prolonged fight. Kei obviously valued her points, but was sure to reassure her that he wouldn't be alone, she had nothing to lose so far by her arguments.

The helmet seemed to stare at Kei, despite not actually having vision. "If you were unhinged, and I left my protections, there would be nothing stopping you from killing me. In fact, a great number of Shinigami would like to be in your position right now, to kill me wheres nobody can stop them. You've already proven you're the better swordsman. So long as we're within your Bankai, I'd be at your mercy. And I can't exactly let myself die over something so trivial as all this." It was funny, though, that Sabre considered her arrest, regardless of the consequences, as trivial. If she did a wrong, she'd be punished. If not, she'd still be having words with the Commander about this event. It was also clear that she had no faith in the Omnitsukido saving her life if she was in mortal danger, despite that being their job when assigned to her.

That's it! That's what wasn't making sense about all this! "Captain... Why were you the one to take action if I was using my mask without realizing it? Where were my guards, who should have incapacitated me immediately if I lost control?"

"Your watchful eye may be skilled, but anyone on par with my ability to sense subtle changes in reiatsu would not be used to specifically watch one person." With that he gave another tug sending her spinning, at this point any Captain would easily be restrained for at least a minute, but she kept on spinning. It didn't matter, as he tied her up more and more. Soon, no matter if she had her mask or not, even if he ended his bankai she'd be tied up for at least a minute, long enough to be restrained by dozens if not more people. "It has become irrelevant though, as tightly as your tied up you probably didn't consider, if I wanted you dead I'd simply unleash the full power of my bankai on you, but now I have you pretty well sealed up." With that his bankai would abruptly end. Those on the outside would see the mirror shatter into nothingness, and Kei stepping down with grace as the ball of kido and armor would almost just flop to the ground should she not come out of her bankai. Before the two of them even hit the ground there would be dozens rushing in to finalize the arrest, using reiatsu restricting equipment designed for even high tier Captains to remove the ability to resist, most of it exclusive to the sixth division, the onmitsukido, and the kido corps.

Standing back, Kei would watch his elite squad fly into action with such precision that each of them would be considered a threat by most shinigami, but as a group even a Lieutenant could be restrained with such equipment. A Captain or even higher could be constrained fairly easily if they were wounded or restrained by Kei or another Captain, this tactic was perfect for capturing rogues or those who resisted arrest. If she fought back now, she'd have WAY more than Kei to deal with, she'd have an onslaught of people holding her down. If she even tried to keep her bankai up she'd find the reiatsu draining effects only making it more and more difficult by the second to keep herself protected, prisoners weren't given the right to use their reiatsu, only the right to retain it for when they were released. That being said, even her mask was no match for such restraint, it took in reiatsu given off by shinigami, and instead of letting it circulate into their being, it used that energy to increase it's own restraining power. This meant, the stronger the person restrained, the harder it was to break them out.

"Besides", he added as the men would leap into action, "Your compliance is irrelevant, my bankai already succeeded." He knew she was never going to fully comply, but if she tried to resist at this point it would be impossible for her to explain how everyone but her was losing their mind. That was the kind of thing a crazy person said and with her seemingly sane enough to understand that, she'd have to first convince herself. If she simply complied with the onslaught though, she'd find they weren't aggressive or violent, simply working quickly to prevent further aggression. This was her final chance to comply though, if she did anything else in this situation, it would become a manhunt.

The bundle of armor, tightly balled up as it was, simply sat for a moment. Sabiruchi was unusually quiet inside there, as the armor sat on the stone street, being tightly bound by the Sixth Division.

As the men and women did their jobs, though, Sabre was busy herself. Due to the way her Bankai and this technique functioned, an abrupt end would cause her grievous harm, especially due to how the pieces of armor were positioned.

Sabiruchi instead had to lower her spirit out of the armor, into the stone tile the armor was sitting on, shift her spirit away from the Sixth, then rise out of the stone road, near the Omnitsukido instead. As the highly trained stealth force leaped at her, the Hollow mask faded, vanishing. The suit of armor that the Sixth had focused on dulled to black and blue rather than the white and gold of her Mithril art.

Even though she was thrown face-first onto the ground, with several swords pressed against her most vital areas, Sabiruchi looked at the Sixth, and their Captain, giving them a wry smile as a very large, brutal looking collar was placed around her neck. The heavy piece of metal had four teeth on the inside that pressed just into her skin, not deep enough to draw blood yet, but should she use her mask again, the collar would shrink and tighten. As Sabiruchi lay on the ground, the collar shimmered and gave transformed, giving the appearance of a red leather cat collar. Sabre's eyes shifted to a nearby Omnitsukido and she mumbled, "I liked the older one better."

"What the HELL is going on here?" Despite the tone of anger in her voice, Lanying Baozhai, Captain Commander of the Gotei, kept her calm facade as she always did. She was here, unarmed and partially out of uniform as her dress was visibly wrinkled and one could tell it was hastily put on, because she had heard reports of Sabre going out of control, and a Captain releasing Bankai without permission. "Sabre. Mind telling me what happened? Or should I ask you, Captain Kusanagi, why you didn't listen to protocol regarding my lieutenant here?"

She released a sigh and attempted to straighten her slightly askew skirt. "Need I remind you, captain, that any and all incidents relating to Sabre Tsuyosa are to be handled by either myself or the Omnitsukido?" As she spoke, one of the Omnitsukido members in the area handed her a small control switch. "Thank you. You are all dismissed. Except for you two." She pointed at both Sabre and Captain Kusanagi. "You two will be joining me in my office. Come come." Without waiting for their responses, she turned on her heel and started walking away, her boots clacking along with each step.

Turning his back on Sabre as the arrest was finalized, after all it was his intention to hand her over anyway, her passing herself over only saved him work later in retrieving his division's gear. Kei waited in silence as they sealed her down, listening to the Commander who was nearby. While Kei wasn't too surprised that she was upset, he was fairly surprised she'd waste the time coming down to ask what happened after he'd sent a butterfly to report what happened, maybe she was a bit too invested in Sabre. Kei followed the Commander, since his blade was already sheathed he would simply turn to follow her steps toward the first division. The sixth division elites followed Kei, though as they approached the district of the Seireitei where all the barracks were, they would all turn off to head toward the sixth division barracks. Surely Kei would expect them to get right to their duties without needing to instruct them since the Commander had already dismissed them.

As it seemed the Commander was going to wish to speak about the incident in her office, Kei did not waste her time explaining himself. He would instead follow silently, one of the butterflies still resting on his shoulder from earlier, though it seemed that the butterfly was just relaxing on him. Kei did give off the faint scent of lilac most of the time, so it wasn't any wonder that butterflies liked him and his garden. Besides that, Kei's inability to see meant this butterfly would have to give the visual story Kei couldn't give, so he hadn't dismissed it just yet. This was a safety measure Kei often took when dealing with incident reports, a sighted member of the sixth division wouldn't need a butterfly to show the report, but Kei took precautions just in case.

Sabiruchi pushed herself off the ground, rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck before brushing dirt of her uniform. She didn't make an effort to follow until she was presentably fixed, then she clasped her hands together in front of her, following Lanying, her head held high. Clearly, she wasn't too concerned at the moment about her future punishment.

When Sabre took in Lanying's disgruntled appearance, she raised an eyebrow slightly. "I apologize for the situation rousing you from your habitual nap, Commander. I'm sure you must be exhausted from all the paperwork you finished today." Despite her words, Sabiruchi's voice was entirely polite, and she even put on a respectful tone when addressing her superior officer. It was definitely noticeable that the tone she spoke in was the exact tone she had prior to becoming a Vizard, so long ago. Her voice was soft, and she didn't seem to emphasize words or syllables with much strength. Had it been windy, her voice would have been lost to the breeze; it was definitely hard to hear her without trying.

The Vizard maintained her erect, shoulders back posture as she walked, but it wasn't rigid like before, she moved fluidly. Even her face seemed smoother, calmer and more peaceful. She looked almost like she did before Shinsetsuna Tsuyosa, her adoptive father, was killed, but more confident and stronger. When she looked at Lanying, her eyes weren't filled with anger, bitterness or hate like she had been for so long. Nor was it with the yearning for approval look of her youth. Sabiruchi looked at her with respect, as if she saw herself on the Commander's footing, as equals.

A nap. She had just been woken up from a nap. Hence why she was so disheveled. Especially considering she always slept in the nude...it was more comfortable that way. However, she could only smile a little as she heard the old Sabre come back. The one that Lanying, oh so many years ago, had helped to train. Helped to teach her what it meant to be a Noble, even if they had been from different houses.

"Yes...I had been napping. And yes, I did actually fill out that paperwork, despite that actually being your job. Speaking of...today's Thursday isn't it?" Her boots continued to clack against the ground as they walked to the First Division's barracks. She casually waved away the guards and the scattered Shinigami that were training here and there as she and her company walked towards her office.

She casually stepped into her office, holding the door open for her two guests, while silently closing it as they walked in. "Now then..." She walked over to her desk and, quickly removing her boots and tossing them into the corner, sat down on her chair. "Why don't we start with you Sabre...mind telling me what sparked this little...incident?"

Following behind the Commander and to her right, Kei was already pecking braille into his notebook, his report was beginning. Unlike most Captains, Kei couldn't write his report and then just pass it over to the Commander, so any chance he had to write he would, then dictate it to someone in his division who performed well enough recently to be given the easy job of dictation. If any shinigami could read braille, they'd note that most of his report was written in short hand, simple comments, and descriptions only where such was necessary. Those descriptions though were mostly of fluctuations in reiatsu or unusual sounds, so it did little else than make his position understandable. As Kei never really took the time learning anyone's face or appearance, he always simply described unknowns by their reiatsu and would give them Greek names in his report, such as 'From here out referred to as Alpha'.

This note keeping however, generally left him quiet while others discussed things, meaning while the two of them talked of paperwork and naps, Kei silently punched bumps in to his paper, occasionally dragging a fingertip across to scan for errors. As one of the few able to write in braille without being able to see, he found it quite natural in a way. He knew how wide the paper was and how much his hand trailed, it showed a certain elegance in his ability to visualize through touch. Unlike most people who couldn't rely on touch to make a solid memory of something's shape or appearance, to Kei this was the most easy to remember. This allowed him to perform quite gracefully even without being able to see what actions he was taking. Even when walking he was able to write fairly well in fact, if only he needed to be able to read it anyway.

As they entered the barracks, Kei removed his sandals, setting them by the entrance before stepping in, following Sabre and Lany into the office. He hadn't been in the first division barracks many times, and it showed with how he paused at the entrance to map out the building. His senses flowed about, making sure he knew where everything was that he might not notice otherwise, this way he could walk about freely inside. Once comfortable though he walked as if nothing were different, the moment of hesitation only to perfect his general idea of the building.

Sabiruchi inclined her head slightly as she stood before Lanying, already barefoot, through she was sure to wipe her feet before entering the office that she was so familiar with. In her soft voice, she began her explanation of the events.

"Myself and Captain Kusanagi were on our way to your office to drop off my weekly Captain's Proficiency Application when suddenly the Captain told me I was under arrest for using my Mask without permission. At the time, I believed he had lost his mind or was hallucinating, as I assured him I did not have my Mask on, and made a point to prove it to the Captain by touching my own face. Still, the Captain drew closer, his hand on his Zanpakuto, so I held my own, sheathed, in a defensive stance, hoping to talk the Captain down so I could bring him to the Fourth Division for immediate medical examination. I warned the Captain that if he attacked me, I would have to defend myself. At this time, my Zanpakuto Spirit, Ikite iru sabi no nami, fully manifested of his own will, and spoke to me about betrayal due to my impure status, and told me that I would not be allowed to even draw my Zanpakuto unless I used my Mask, to fully accept Ikite iru sabi no nami as he is, otherwise the Spirit would allow Captain Kusanagi to attack me without any form of defense. In doing so, I realized I had no choice but to use my Mask if I was to prevent harm from coming to myself or the Captain, if he had truly lost his mind like I believed. The situation escalated, with the Captain using Bankai while I continued to attempt to get him to stop the attack. I did not attack the Captain, even while he struck me, instead I tried to end the fight without harming him. I could not remove my Mask, for there was no way I could be sure the Captain wouldn't use a finishing blow upon myself; I'm well aware that a great number of Shinigami desire my death, and he would have had me at his mercy. During the Captain's attacks on me, my collar was destroyed. Eventually, I resorted to my own Bankai to prevent farther harm to myself and hoped to end the battle by allowing the Captain to strike my armor once more; had he done so, I would have given him the choice of deactivating his Bankai willingly, or I should have shattered his Zanpakuto, robbing him of his powers as a Shinigami, which would have been most regrettable. Fortunately, it was at this point that the Captain decided to take a more peaceful end to the fight, by binding the armor I was infused into with Bakudo. When he finally ended his Bankai, I returned through the road to appear before the Omnitsukido, whom promptly replaced the destroyed collar with the spare you had made for emergencies."

During her explanation, Sabiruchi spoke very softly, but didn't pause the entire time. Only when she finished her version of events did she take a series of breaths. "However, Commander Baozhai, I believe that Ikite iru sabi no nami had manipulated events from the very beginning to trick my into accepting his true nature as a hybrid Zanpakuto-Hollow Spirit."

Lany sighed as she leaned back in her chair and casually put her feet up on her desk as Sabre rattled on about the situation. She listened intently as she slowly closed her eyes, waiting for Sabre to finish up. As Lany saw only darkness, her spirit, Inei Ojou, silently manifested herself. Lany was sure that anyone with relatively strong perception would be able to detect the unique signature of the Princess.

"You should punish them." The lower mouth spoke first. "Let me eat their spirits." This was when the upper mouth chimed in. "No, they are valuable assets. Both of them. Plus, I don't think you'd like that one's spirit." She pointed to Sabre as she spoke. Lany tried to ignore them as she listened to Sabre finish up her report. When her report was finished, Lany shot forward in her chair, getting back into an upright position and putting her feet down.

"So, if I'm to understand correctly. Your mask started to form on it's own accord. Captain Kusanagi saw this, and acted on impulse. Then your spirit went crazy." She released a sigh and leaned back slightly in her chair. "Am I wrong about anything here Sabre?" She turned to look at the captain and smiled, before remembering he wouldn't see her smile. "And you Captain Kusanagi. I'm sure you have a very thorough report as well?"

Silent in his position, there was a certain poise about Kei that wasn't there before. A quiet dignity as he listened to the words, not making any motion to interrupt or interject. This was Sabre's opportunity to speak, and Kei showed respect in letting her do so uninterrupted, the nature of those in his division. Shinigami had to rely on each other and had to respect one another, even if they disagreed, and this was a value Kei held very highly. Whether or not he cared much about an individual, he was loyal to the group in all ways that could be perceived. Kei's only motion during her discussion was to slide a finger along his pad occasionally, considering her words against his report, fine tuning anything in his mental notes of what she said verses what he perceived in the situation, though it did not seem as though there were any emotional ties to the situation. Something happened, Kei was involved, now it was time to report, emotions were worthless at this point, and by Sabre's recount of the situation, it seemed she had a similar way of looking at it.

When the attention was turned to Kei, he spoke. While her description was more in depth, Kei's retelling was more like a police report, which made sense given his position. "Yes Commander. We had spent time earlier in the day, and I speculated verbally that if she did lose control of her mask, I would be tapped to arrest her, given my authority over the sixth division and resources available therein. The day otherwise was casual, and we spent time in her home discussing personal matters that do not affect the situation, as well as a verbal disagreement which ended peacefully." Kei's retelling was concise but gave important details, perhaps this emotional moment was a factor, perhaps not, but the idea that it happened might be relevant enough to include it. "During our walk back, I noticed Lieutenant Tsuyosa's reiatsu was becoming more and more like a hollow, something I had been aware of after her performance with her shikai, indicated the manifestation of her hollow side. During this time I stayed quiet until her reiatsu made a complete shift to that of a hollow, I recognized the feel of a hollow's mask and made my intention known that there would be absolutely no right to use it within the Rukongai, and failure to remove it would be dealt with extreme prejudice." This of course referred to his threat that if she hadn't removed the mask he would strike her down.

As he spoke, his notebook occasionally flipped, and a finger dragged along it, "She did not seem to be able to detect it's presence and made gestures at her face, I'm assuming she perceived herself to be pulling at skin. It was at that time I called for two hell butterflies to record visual data and to test her hollow's ability to manipulate her. I challenged the hollow to kill one butterfly to see if she was physically controlled and when it became apparent she wasn't, I offered a peaceful arrest to contain her for assistance, to wit I would bring her before you due to her special situation. The hollow manifested itself, and she resisted arrest, holding her weapon up defensively to prevent the arrest. I made a strike with the base of my blade after repeated warnings, and attempt to confuse with my shikai. She used kido to prevent the incapacitating strike, and threatened to use bankai against me to prevent the arrest. Per codes, any threat of force is to be met with equal force, I presented my bankai to contain and weaken her. During this time she did in fact make verbal threats with intent of removing my shinigami abilities, though when she used her bankai defensively I took advantage of the situation and bound her with kido, as she was no longer fighting actively. Once I was comfortable with how bound she was, my bankai was dismissed willingly."

As Kei spoke, he lowered one hand to the desk and the butterfly slowly moved to rest on the wood corner of it, "Here is the recording of such event leading up to the bankai, however the butterflies would not be able to retain existence within my bankai, though I do not disagree with her account of the story from inside of it so I do not feel further proof is needed for either of us on that account. My standard operations followed, peaceful and passive arrest attempt, verbal warning, non-lethal strike, reciprocating a threat, passive arrest." The final rundown was a summary, a list he always included in incident reports, so that it could be shown concisely that he didn't act without attempting a peaceful solution first. "While she was passive at first, I was forced to use physical force given her relative strength and threat of violence. Her threats were non-physical however, so I reserved any strikes made to be non-lethal, and to be focused on disabling via a strike to the Achilles tendon and using that leverage to attack the mask in an attempt to weaken her. The list of charges that should be confirmed by the Hell Butterfly should be, refusing an order presented by a Captain, resisting arrest, threatening bankai against a Captain. The sixth division would like to push for an example to be made, so that anyone who makes threats against superiors will know they will not be tolerated."

Sabiruchi allowed Kei to give his version, her hands still folded in front of her. While she was quiet and respectful, listening to his words, she looked up at the ceiling when he asked for a formal punishment over not following his orders. As Sabre saw it, a Captain of another Division couldn't punish a member of someone else's, so he was simply trying to get her Captain to do it for him. At which, Sabiruchi had an inward laugh, wondering how exactly the Commander would punish her.

When Captain Kusanagi finished, Sabre looked to her Captain. "One clarification, Commander Baozhai. I believe Ikite iru sabi no nami had been manipulating things from the very beginning, prior to my Mask summoning itself. As you're aware, he has always been resourceful and free-willed, while in this situation, he was the only one to gain any benefit."

As if to punctuate her words, the mechanical Zanpakuto spirit manifested partially, his presence able to be felt, but only Sabre could hear and see him. "You've been hurting us for too long, Sabiruchi. A Vizard must rely on their Hollow just as a Shinigami relies on their Zanpakuto. Until you accepted the truth, I had no choice but to open your eyes. But you were never in danger."

Out loud, in her soft and polite voice, she answered the Spirit. "I'm sure I'll have scars to prove you wrong about how much danger I was in, Ikite iru sabi no nami."

Lanying sighed a little as she listened to the long-winded, detail by detail report from Captain Kusanagi. She really did hate this part of the job. She wished she could just be back on the front lines, like the old days.

"Blah, blah, blah, blah. You know I hate these long winded reports of yours Captain Kusanagi. You could have just read me the short version and I would have filled in the blanks myself. But thank you, for always being so...concise with your reports. Now...as for an example...what would your suggestion be? I can't exactly execute her. She's too valuable. I can't banish her. She'd just come right back." She cast a side-long glance at Sabre and smirked a little. "Honor and Duty are hardwired into her as if she was...some kind of machine. I don't mean any offense by that Sabre, you know that."

She released another sigh and sat back into her chair again as she rubbed her temples. "I-I'll think of a suitable punishment for her. Leave your report here...or rather don't...since I can't read it anyways. I'm sure you can see yourself out?"

Knowing the Commander wasn't a big fan of his long reports, Kei still felt need to report in detail, after all that's just how Kei was. Surely Sabre had read a few reports that read similarly from the sixth division. In fact it might even become a point of amusement as some newer recruits wrote very simple and easy to read reports, but over time Kei's training and influence caused their reports to become more like his, something that SURELY the Commander absolutely just LOVED to see happen. That being said, Kei snapped his book shut with a quiet thunk and slid it into the pocket. He nodded once to the comment about seeing himself out, somehow the irony of the comment was either lost on Kei or he appreciated the fact that she used regular language with him, he did not by any means seem offended or put off by the comment. Turning toward the door, Kei took a step and paused, "The sixth division would like to recommend something that demonstrates loyalty as a punishment, perhaps labor for other divisions. While it's standing knowledge that Sabre is from a Noble family, one thing that might be considered demeaning to the family, such as having a member doing physical labor for other divisions, with public knowledge that the labor is for punishment, might be a reminder that if even the elite nobles are subject to harsh punishment, then anyone is. Compounded is the fact that she's an elite among shinigami, a Leiutenant of the first division forced to do manual and degrading labor, such as cleaning sewers or slop work for the 12th division, might be seen as a reminder that no rank is treated special in the eyes of the laws."

While Sabre saw it as Kei pushing for a punishment, the second time he spoke about it he again commented about how the division would push for it. This was a reminder that even if a sixth division member had been arrested, Kei had no right to punish. They were prosecutors and police, not judges and jury. The sixth division acted on impulse to stop the problem, the Commander dealt with deciding the punishments for more vague scenarios such as this. In the sixth division there was no room for breaking the rules, the Captain, Kei, did not protect his members from such atrocities. This became evident, he spoke on behalf of the sixth division in his recommendation, not himself. He did not care about the punishment, it wasn't for him to learn anything, this was something that Kei was using authority from his division rather than his rank. The division trusted his judgment and followed his judgment, so it had nothing to do with him being a Captain, Kei spoke as a prosecutor, begging the judge to make the punishment public and humiliating, no shinigami would want that. Seeing a Noble doing it WOULD cement how horrible it was to break the law, and further increase obedience. After all, shinigami weren't citizens of the Seireitei, they were the military force from the Seireitei, and residents of the Rukongai. In Kei's mind, that meant there was no room for disobedience.

"My report will be written and delivered by end of day, Commander", Kei said as he opened the door, stepping outside he would slowly close it behind himself, his recommendation in the Commander's hands now. His reiatsu could be felt moving toward the exit, then coming to a halt. After a few moments the sound of the front door opened, then quietly shut. He had his sandals on and was on his way toward the sixth division barracks. Having been dismissed meant he had nothing else to contribute besides his report, one that he would go back and nominate a fellow sixth division member to draft in writing so it was able to be read. This meant Kei had to revert to the most odd poll ever taken in the Seireitei, the "Good Handwriting" poll. Not exactly the best judge of handwriting, Kei polled a lot of seated members from random divisions over which of his officers had good handwriting. Upon receiving the results, Kei kept a list of higher scores, these were the ones most suited to act as Kei's dictation specialist. One even tried to learn braille but ended up having to give up after realizing just how daunting reading would be by touch alone. For a blind person it wasn't that hard, but for a sighted person it seemed downright impossible at first.

Sabiruchi had softly said something along the lines of "None taken" when the Commander referred to her as a machine. She had a self-pride in her own dedication to the Tsuyosa lifestyle of 'Society, Gotei, Family, Self'. She once again looked upwards as the police-like Captain suggested manual labor or some supposedly humiliating tasks as punishment. Before she was confined to Seireitei, she had spent her free time working in the Rukongai to build houses and feed the poor. Nowadays, she hired contractors to do the labor for her, as she wasn't able to leave Seireitei.

Not that she was strictly forbidden to, but there was no good reason FOR her to either. And when there wasn't a good reason to leave, she knew she shouldn't.

Besides, she thought, her older sister was the Lieutenant of Division 4, who as well as being medics for the Gotei, also maintained the Seireitei's cleanliness. Her sister, a Noble by birth, already did the things Kei suggested, so it would be no more humiliating if Sabre did so as well. Not to mention the work that the Baozhai did in Rukongai, though Sabre thought better not to mention any of these facts to Captain Kusanagi before he left.

She did however, return her attention to Commander Baozhai, placing her hands behind her back, clasping her fists together on the small of her back. "Between friends, Commander," Sabre said, using the term friend to Lanying for the first time in decades, "You can't actually be sure I'd return from banishment. I hear the Living World is quite lovely these days." Her quiet voice was calm, and for a moment she seemed serious before a twinkle appeared in the corner of her eye. She didn't have to say that she was joking.

But, she did reach into the front of her blood-stained, still sticky Shihakushō, pulling out an official looking document. The top half was covered in drying blood as Sabre unfolded the Proficiency Application, smoothing the creases, before setting the bloody parchment on the Commander's desk, in the exact spot she had placed thousands of other applications over the years. "I do apologize for the damage to the parchment, but the text underneath should still be legible. This may not be the most appropriate time, but this is Thursday, and I am already late on the delivery due to the misunderstanding."

Sabre, interestingly, was surprisingly not interested in the fact that she was almost arrested, had been manipulated by her Zanpakuto Spirit, and tricked into mastering her Hollow Mask.

More surprising was the fact that her Ikite iru sabi no nami fully manifested itself, allowing Lanying to see him as he stood to the side of the room closest the door. Sabre almost didn't realize since she was already able to see him, but the Hollowfied Zanpakuto Spirit nodded his head towards the Commander respectfully in greeting, though he didn't speak. He was curious to see if the Commander's Zanpakuto could freely manifest on her own as he could.

Lanying smiled politely as Captain Kusanagi left the room. She then sighed loudly to herself and stood up, while putting her hands behind her to unzip her dress. "Ah...that's much better." Not caring that Sabre was present, not that she hadn't seen this before, Lanying stripped out of her dress, casually letting it fall to the ground. She now stood there, in a pair of lacy black undergarments.

"And as for not knowing if you'd come back, you're right. I don't know that. However, I trust that you would. After all. Who else would run your family?"

She gave Sabre a light smirk as she sat back down into her chair. "And yes, it's fine. I knew what day it was. When I saw that it was past the time you normally came, I laid down to take a nap. Then that happened...why do you always have the worst timing?"

She released another sigh and gave a silent nod to Ikite Iru Sabi no Nami and casually turned her head to look to her left, to see if Inei Ojou was still there. Surprisingly, she was. She couldn't tell if she had decided to fully manifest herself, but sensing a massive flare of reiatsu gave her an idea that perhaps she had.